Trump’s national security adviser Waltz resigned in the House of Representatives, reducing the majority of the Republican party
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., retired from Congress on Monday to serve as President-elect Trump’s national security adviser — a long-awaited move he announced just one hour before Trump was sworn in as president.
Waltz confirmed to Fox News his plans to resign Inauguration Day before Trump’s inauguration — a decision that further narrows the Republican majority in the House of Representatives to just 218-215.
Staff prepare for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via Reuters)
“As I prepare to assume my duties as National Security Advisor to the President-elect, Donald J. Trump, I hereby announce my resignation from the US House of Representatives, effective January 20, 2025,” Waltz said in a letter announcing his decision.
“I intend to serve out my term in the 118th Congress and be sworn in at the 118th Congress. I have also sent a notice to Governor Ron DeSantis to inform him of my resignation.”
A special election to replace Waltz will be held in April.
News of his resignation in the House of Representatives comes as House Republicans struggle to unify amid intra-party divisions over government spending, loyalty to Trump and other differences in ideology.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters on the floor of Congress before lawmakers voted on a new spending bill to avert a government shutdown. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
These divisions were on stark display during the election of House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier in January and the spending spree in December. narrowly avoided a government shutdown.
Trump praised Mike Waltz’s more than 25 years in the Army’s Special Forces. Here Waltz is shown in Afghanistan. (Mike Waltz)
Waltz, a former member of the Green Beret who served in both the White House and the Pentagon, was chosen by Trump in the fall of 2024 as his national security adviser.
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Trump praised Waltz’s more than 25 years in the Army’s special forces, noting that he was “deployed multiple times in combat for which he received four Bronze Stars, including two for valor.”
Fox News Digital’s Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
